DATELINE: U.K.

by Shivaun Gayares

The U.K. imprint

IF YOU'RE A HISTORY BUFF, THE United Kingdom of Great Britain certainly has its attraction.  It's a place steeped in culture and old traditions, surrounded by the remnants of its colorful past and infrastructures of the present era.  As we've learned in our high school social studies class, the UK is divided into four separate entities: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

The head of state is the Prime Minister (Tony Blair).  The Queen (Elizabeth II) is the figurehead, no real power except to cut ribbons, grace state events and official functions and perform her royal duties by serving as fodder to the tabloids along with the entire royal family.  The Scottish do not like to be called "British." They weren't part of the kingdom until the ascension to the English throne of James I (James VI of Scotland, son of Mary, Queen of Scots) after the death of the first Queen Elizabeth in 1603. There's also still chaos and violence in Northern Ireland, a divisional rift within the Catholics (who want independence from Britain) and the Protestants (who want to be part of the Commonwealth). 

But aside from the museums, the relics of the past, and the great views of the countryside, nothing much is alluring about this once great empire. The day-to-day routines of life here in Britain are pretty stale and boring.  It's not primarily the humidity and inherent murkiness of the weather but merely the differences with our Pinoy cultural landscape. It's more than a "to each his own" social milieu and "dog eat dog" environment. People become cold to the brink of being inhuman.

Gone is the empire and the population is still reeling from their loss of power.  Sure, Britain still has Australia and Canada but the main isle is headed into a downward spiral.  More than a half a century ago, Britain was a great manufacturer of ships, cars and airplanes Nowadays, they're not even the biggest economy in Europe, being dwarfed by Germany by a mile.  But just like a typical European, it's also a typical British attitude to be arrogant, and arrogance can only get you so far.

As part of the great influx of Pinoy nurses in UK over the past three years, my UK impression hasn't been that positive the last seven months especially after I've worked in Singapore in the late 90's.  Why did I think that England, who had produced Shakespeare and The Beatles, would be more high-tech than the tiny island-city-Asian state?   Ok, technology in England is more backward. I'm still baffled with the comparison.  I've even drawn conclusions that the government allocates much of its budget to the upkeep of the grand places and the lifestyles of the royal family.  Oh, well.

The cost of living is sky-high. A one bed room semi-detached house could go as much as a thousand pounds in monthly rent, and that's in my area, the quite serene town or city of Oxford.  It's more expensive to rent flats in London. The prices of commodities are pretty stiff.  Most shops close at 5pm, on the dot and some on Sundays.  There's television licensing.  You have to pay a license fee if you want to watch TV, plain and simple, that's the legal way.  BBC seems to be the only channel.  So BBC1, BBC2, etc.

There aren't that many Filipinos yet in the British Isles, unlike probably in the States.  We number only to the hundreds in Oxford but we often brush with each other in the streets.  The married ones bring their spouses and children over contributing to the density of the Filipino community.  Despite the escalating numbers, some Brits are still clueless on how to place the Philippines in a map.  Racism is still felt and sometimes clouds the air but not really manifested in your presence.

But as Pinoy migrant workers, we know this is better than existing in genteel poverty back home.  Poverty is never beautiful.  To some of us, England is another stopgap in the career timeline.  To others, following the daily antics in the English Football League or the soap opera Eastenders would be a permanent affair.  But the experience hugely provides a dent in our quest for contentment. *

Ed’s note – Shivaun, our sports columnist, has moved to UK as a nurse and will be writing this column for us every other month.

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